Cancer death rates are falling steadily, according to the American Cancer Society's annual cancer statistics report, Cancer Facts & Figures 2009, and its companion article "Cancer Statistics, 2009," published in the Society's CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The drop is driven in large part by better prevention, increased use of early detection practices, and improved treatments for cancer.

According to the report, Cancer death rates dropped 19.2% among men during 1990-2005 and 11.4% among women during 1991-2005. Cancer incidence rates are also on the decline – they decreased 1.8% per year among men from 2001-2005 and 0.6% per year from 1998-2005 among women.